Destination Tehama, a new grassroots organization, wants to change the way the world sees Tehama County.
Its goal: Encourage tourism by capitalizing on Tehama County’s proximity to recreational resources, put a fresh face on the region’s abundant attractions, and promote the southern corner of the North State as an arts-and-culture oasis between San Francisco and Portland. In essence, to give a county-wide makeover.
But before Destination Tehama and its Tehama County Branding Project can put on its makeup and new clothes to host visitors, it must raise some funds for the project’s consultant, Destination Development International. For 30 years, Destination Development has put a fresh face on small and large communities, making them better … destinations.
Destination Tehama intends to have a lot of fun raising the funds, and spotlight some of the things that make Tehama County unique. You’re invited to the inaugural event: Red Bluff’s Annual Home Tour, a peek inside some of Red Bluff’s most incredible historic and new homes. The tour, “A Glimpse Into Red Bluff, Then and Now,” is the first in a series of extravaganzas to support the image transformation.
Steve and Elaine Engler's 1890's Victorian
But where to start the tour – then or now? Begin the tour “then,” with Elaine and Steve Engler’s early Queen Anne Victorian, known as The Faulkner House. The only new element is the home’s octagon tower that was removed in the 1930s and replaced by Steve and Elaine in 2003. The home was built in the early 1890s by Herman H. Weindieck who came to Red Bluff from Germany in the 1870s and worked as a jeweler in the Elmore Drugstore. Weindieck later owned his own jewelry store in Red Bluff.
The screened porch of Steve and Elaine Engler's historic home
Or start with “now” for some serious house envy. The new, 5,058-square-foot home owned by Bud & Rosalie Shope makes me want to go home, raze my humble abode and start over. Just to rub it in, the Shopes’ home (Can you call 5,000 square feet a house?) sits on two, five-acre riverfront parcels. It features four bedrooms, four baths and a private guest house.
One of the designer interiors on the Red Bluff Home Tour
For the ultimate “Glimpse Into Red Bluff,” buy a ticket for the post-tour Wine Garden Party hosted by Lynne and Bill Moule of Red Bluff’s Moule Glass. Stew in your home tour-induced jealousy while sampling wines from four regional vintners and food from local farmers and food vendors prepared by chefs Scott Graves and Eric Secrest. The North State’s Holly Day will serenade guests with her brand of light jazz.
Destination Development made Turlock the “Bridal Shopping and Planning Destination,” put Angels Camp on the map as the “Mountain Sports Capital” of California and pulled Oxnard out of its slump as a forgotten beach town between Malibu and Santa Barbara. Destination Tehama hopes for similar results with a decidedly North State spin.
In Oxnard, the first step was a little therapy – residents were encouraged to “reach higher” and work on their community’s self-image before a make-over was tackled. It might be time for all of us to help our North State neighbors do the same thing.
It seems like a tour of some of Red Bluff’s most beautiful homes – a little bit of history and a view of the river, a look at Red Bluff “Then and Now” – is a great place to start.
What: Destination Tehama’s Annual Red Bluff Home Tour – A benefit for the Tehama County Branding Project
When: Saturday (June 4), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by a Wine and Garden Party from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Tickets: $40 (tour only), $60 (tour plus wine and garden party), available at Sparrow Fine Arts and Antiques, 644 Main Street in Red Bluff, and the Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber of Commerce, 100 Main Street, Red Bluff.
For more information, call Sparrow Fine Art & Antiques at (530) 527-2783 or the Chamber of Commerce at (530) 527-6220.
Adam Mankoski enjoys experiencing and writing about the people, places and things that embody the free spirit of the State of Jefferson. He and his partner own HawkMan Studios and are the creators of Redding’s 2nd Saturday ArtHop. Email your North State weekend events to adamm.anewscafe@gmail.com.
A News Cafe, founded in Shasta County by Redding, CA journalist Doni Greenberg, is the place for people craving local Northern California news, commentary, food, arts and entertainment. Views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of anewscafe.com.
